Before the Tour, would you have thought your British record of fourth place overall would be threatened by Wiggins?

No, not at all.

Did you think he had a performance like this in him?

I think everyone is surprised by his rapid progression this year. Obviously he has the power to ride fast but the transition to being competitive on the road and, even more surprising, being good uphill was hard to foresee.

His weight loss has certainly helped his climbing, so it's apparent he's been looking at his diet closely but that'll be only one component he'll have changed. I think anyone who can be world pursuit champion can be a decent road rider. They obviously have the power and the focus, so if they can cope with the new demands required for racing on the road then there's no reason they won't be successful.

What's your assessment of the way he has dealt with the Tour?

He has ridden very well physically and tactically, the good points are that he has kept well positioned most of the time and not wasted too much energy when he hasn't needed too. Bad points: nothing really glaring that I could see, maybe he could have pretended to be suffering a bit more in the mountains then the climbers wouldn't have been so concerned by his presence.

What do you think he can do in the future in the Tour? Can he come back and aspire to do better, or is this as good as it gets?

This is hard to predict as it depends on how he reacts to the training required to improve. Without looking at what he is doing now I couldn't make a judgment on what he could work on and what he just needs to maintain. At this level tiny percentages make the differences between the riders and any improvements require commitment and work beyond the norm but I don't see any reasons why he should consider this is as good as it gets.

Do you think he has made a mistake by concentrating on the track for so long when, clearly, he could have been up there in the biggest race in the world?

I've always thought that top pro road racing requires a commitment equivalent to the effort required for an Olympic year, the only difference is you need to reach that level every year, every Grand Tour. Maybe this has been the first year when Bradley has shown that full-on commitment to his road racing but I think saying it may have been a mistake to concentrate on the track is wrong as you have to take into consideration what he wanted to do. It could have been the wrong time for him to do something else.

Olympic team and Sky professional team head Dave Brailsford reckons a Briton can win the Tour in the next five years. Do you agree?

There's no reason why someone British can't be competitive at that level.

If they can find someone with the talent, the commitment, the attitude and who can cope with the workload required then it is possible. As a project however it is more complicated than just finding someone who can produce the power numbers. The team collective is very important, the set-up has to be right, the race programme, the training, the back-up all need people with experience who understand what is required. Then when all that is in place you are still racing other people in conditions which are changeable.

A Brit winning a major Tour isn't a ridiculous idea. I never thought I was that talented or that I could always take the workload that well but I learned and understood what was required to get to Grand Tour level so I think someone a little stronger and/or talented can be better despite being British.